2012 Global RallyCross Championship

The 2012 Global RallyCross Championship was the second season of this championship. The season was composed by 6 rounds, including one round in the X Games. Tanner Foust was crowned champion for the second time, beating teammate Brian Deegan.

Teams and drivers

Constructor Team	Car	Individual Team	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Olsbergs MSE	2012 Ford Fiesta	Best Buy Mobile Olsbergs MSE	3	Marcus Grönholm[1]	1–3
				Andréas Eriksson	5
				Timur Timerzyanov	6
		Best Buy Serve Olsbergs MSE[2]	17	David Binks[3]	All
		Rockstar Etnies Olsbergs MSE	34	Tanner Foust	All
		Rockstar Metal Mulisha Olsbergs MSE	38	Brian Deegan	All
		Bluebeam Olsbergs MSE	57	Toomas Heikkinen	1–3, 5–6
Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA	2012 Subaru Impreza WRX STI	Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA	11	Sverre Isachsen[4]	All
		Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA	40	Dave Mirra[5]	All
		Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA	75	David Higgins	3
		Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA	81	Bucky Lasek[6]	All
Rhys Millen Racing	2012 Hyundai Veloster	Motorcity Disney XD Rhys Millen Racing	12	Stéphane Verdier	All
		Hyundai Rallycross Rhys Millen Racing	67	Rhys Millen	1–3, 5–6
Scott-Eklund Racing	2010 Saab 9-3	Scott-Eklund Racing	26	Andy Scott	1–4
		ENEOS Motor Oil Scott-Eklund Racing	77	Samuel Hübinette	All
Monster Energy Citroën Rallycross Team	Citroën C4 WRC	Monster Energy Citroën Rallycross Team	33	Liam Doran	2–4, 6
Team 41	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	Team 41	41	Richard Burton	1, 4–5
Monster World Rally Team	2012 Ford Fiesta	Monster World Rally Team Ford Racing	43	Ken Block	All
PMR Motorsports	2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI	PMR Motorsports	47	Tim Rooney	1
		PMR Motorsports	59	Patrick Moro	1–2, 4–6
Hansen Motorsport	2012 Citroën DS3	Red Bull Citroën	72	Sébastien Loeb[7]	3
Pastrana 199 Racing	2013 Dodge Dart	Pastrana 199 Racing	99	Filipe Albuquerque	2
				Bryce Menzies	3, 6
		Pastrana 199 Racing[8]	199	Travis Pastrana	1–5
Jimmy Keeney	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	MCM / Venom/ProDesigns	418	Jimmy Keeney	2, 6

Schedule

^[9]

Round	Location	Other Event	Date
1	Charlotte Motor Speedway	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series	26 May
2	Texas Motor Speedway	IZOD IndyCar Series	9 June
3	X Games, Los Angeles	X Games XVIII	30 June – 1 July
4	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series	14 July
5	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	NASCAR Camping World Truck Series	29 September
6	Las Vegas Convention Center[10]	Speciality Equipment Market Association	30 October

Season summary

GRC opened its season on a Saturday night at Charlotte with a 17-car field and two sets of heat races, and it was clear from the first practice session that the two drivers to beat were going to be Marcus Gronholm and Tanner Foust of Olsbergs MSE. After qualifying 1-2, each driver won both of their heat races to advance to the final. But a handful of big names wouldn't have such an easy time advancing. Ken Block suffered a spectacular accident in his first heat race, effectively ending his night before it got started. Fellow Olsbergs driver Brian Deegan won his first heat race, but a burnt-out clutch prevented him from finishing the second or making it to the last chance qualifier. Travis Pastrana also had an incident in his first heat, but won the second to advance to the final. From there, it was more of the same up front, with Gronholm and Foust coming home 1-2. Stephan Verdier, in his first race with Rhys Millen Racing, rounded out the podium. Meanwhile, Toomas Heikkinen's aggressive driving in the final earned him a disqualification and the ire of his competitors, including Pastrana and Dave Mirra.

Texas marked the debut of the 70-foot metal gap jump, which proved an obstacle to most drivers at first; Travis Pastrana spent most of practice in his teammate's car after breaking his in jump practice. But drivers figured out the jump in time for qualifying, where once again, Marcus Gronholm and Tanner Foust placed first and second. In a sign of things to come for much of the season, Gronholm, Foust, Brian Deegan, and Samuel Hubinette would win the four heat races. But it was the second of two last chance qualifiers that may have proved most exciting, as Bucky Lasek drove sideways off of the jump and onto a barrier, and other drivers were eliminated one by one until Stephan Verdier was the only one left and thus advanced to the final. Ford and Olsbergs MSE would dominate the final, scoring four of the top five positions as Gronholm, Foust, and Deegan came home 1-2-3 and David Binks finished fifth. Meanwhile, the top 12 drivers in points earned automatic qualifying berths for X Games, held in Los Angeles the next month.

At X Games, two spectacular crashes in practice for Olsbergs MSE teammates Toomas Heikkinen and Marcus Gronholm caused both drivers would miss the race due to injury. Meanwhile GRC officials nixed the joker lap that ran between the gap in favor of a tabletop jump and no joker lap for Sunday's race. After being challenged by Travis Pastrana, legendary rally driver Sebastian Loeb took a European-honed Citroen to the States to try and conquer his first X Games. It didn't take long for him to establish himself as the man to beat when he won his heat race. Unfortunately, Pastrana's rough season would continue after he suffered terminal damage in the first corner of his heat after an accident with Andy Scott, and was not allowed to replace teammate Bryce Menzies in the other car. For the second race in a row, the ten drivers in the main event would require three attempts to get it right. Loeb would cruise to an easy victory in the valid final, with Ken Block putting in a heroic drive for second on a punctured tire and Brian Deegan winning a medal for the second year in a row by coming in third. Rhys Millen would finish fourth, while Liam Doran, who had taken a surprise gold medal in 2011's head-to-head competition, rounded out the top five.

The absences of Marcus Gronholm, Toomas Heikkinen, and Rhys Millen meant that the series would see a short field of 14 cars and only three heat races at New Hampshire. That entry list might have shrunk even further when Ken Block rolled off of the elevated hairpin in qualifying, necessitating a long night of repairs for his team. Drivers would face the figure eight track on Saturday, adjusting to a longer joker lap and the addition for dirt for the first time on a paved oval. Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan both won their heat races, as expected, but after three straight races of futility, it was Travis Pastrana's time to run up front as well. He and Samuel Hubinette battled fearlessly for the lead in their heat race, with Pastrana eventually earning the advantage. In the final, Foust looked to win his first race of the season and establish himself as the new championship favorite, but after stalling on the elevated hairpin, both Pastrana and Hubinette muscled by, and Deegan would eventually get by as well to take the third step on the podium. Even so, Foust would take a 12-point lead over Hubinette into the final two races of the season.

Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan had both pride and $25,000 on the line in Las Vegas, as both fought for the Discount Tire/America's Tire Cup awarded to the top driver at this race, Texas, and New Hampshire. Foust asserted himself as the man to beat in qualifying, beating Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, and a fully recovered Toomas Heikkinen. Deegan would qualify seventh, while Olsbergs MSE team owner Andreas Eriksson, substituting for Marcus Gronholm, would qualify eighth. The first heat would see a scary accident, as Richard Burton slid sideways off of the jump and into the landing pad, totaling his car and injuring his back in the process. In the second heat, Eriksson would toss away a victory by spinning in the final corner, doing donuts to entertain the fans as Block and Rhys Millen took the two transfer spots. Pastrana also goofed in the third heat by taking the shortcut twice, but both he and Eriksson would advance in the last chance qualifier. Block and Eriksson made contact in the first corner of the final, as Foust, Deegan, and Heikkinen attempted to give Olsbergs its second podium sweep of the year. Subaru's Sverre Isachsen would sneak by Heikkinen for third, earning them their first podium of the season, while Foust would hold off Deegan for the race win and $25,000 prize. They would enter the season finale as the only drivers eligible for the title, as Samuel Hubinette missed the main event.

Facing a six point deficit to Olsbergs MSE teammate Tanner Foust in the championship standings, Brian Deegan would need a lot of luck at SEMA to steal the GRC title. The track, constructed in a parking lot outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center, featured significantly more dirt than most others, and opened up the cars to put on the best show of the season. Foust and Deegan would each win their heat race on the first day, but while Foust backed it up with another win on Tuesday, Deegan would fall to the last chance qualifier after suffering a puncture in his second heat race. Despite his crew racing against the clock, Deegan would make it to the grid in time for the last chance qualifier and advance to the main event. Ken Block had been the man to beat all week, pacing the field through qualifying and his heat races and looking to win his first race of the season in the finale. He might have done so if not for an exhaust fire two laps into the main event that limited his driving, enabled Foust to pass him, and eventually put him out of the race with two laps to go, forcing a restart. It couldn't have been more fortunate for Deegan, who had been a non-factor in the first attempt and seized his second chance. He jumped from the back of the grid to the front by braking late in the first corner and began to work on chasing down Foust. But the race win and championship slipped out of reach as the laps wound down; Foust would take his second race win and championship in a row over Deegan and Rhys Millen, who earned his first career GRC podium and tied Hubinette for third in points.

Results

Events

No.	Event	Seeding Round	Heat A	Heat B	Winner	Team	Manufacturer
1	Charlotte	M. Grönholm	M. Gronholm T. Foust B. Deegan T. Heikkinen	M. Gronholm T. Foust T. Pastrana S. Hübinette	Marcus Grönholm	Olsbergs MSE	Ford
2	Texas	M. Grönholm	M. Gronholm S. Hübinette B. Deegan T. Foust		Marcus Grönholm	Olsbergs MSE	Ford
3	Los Angeles	K. Block	S. Hübinette S. Loeb S. Isachsen D. Binks		Sébastien Loeb	Hansen Motorsport	Citroën
4	Loudon	T. Foust	T. Foust B. Deegan T. Pastrana		Travis Pastrana	Pastrana 199 Racing	Dodge
5	Las Vegas	T. Foust	T. Foust K. Block B. Deegan		Tanner Foust	Olsbergs MSE	Ford
6	Las Vegas CC	K. Block	T. Foust K. Block T. Timerzyanov B. Deegan	T. Foust K. Block	Tanner Foust	Olsbergs MSE	Ford

Drivers standings

• Bold indicates the fastest in the seeding round.
• * indicates a heat win.

Pos. Drivers Team CHA TEX LA NH LVS LVC  Pts  1 Tanner Foust Rockstar Etnies Olsbergs MSE 2 2 6 4 1 1 94 2 Brian Deegan Rockstar Metal Mulisha Olsbergs MSE 16 3 3 3 2 2 84 3 Samuel Hübinette ENEOS Motor Oil Scott-Eklund Racing 5 7 9 2 12 4 63 4 Rhys Millen Hyundai Rallycross Rhys Millen Racing 6 4 4 6 3 63 5 Ken Block Monster World Rally Team 15 8 2 5 7 10 58 6 Stéphane Verdier Motorcity Disney XD Rhys Millen Racing 3 6 12 9 5 11 52 7 Marcus Grönholm Best Buy Mobile Olsbergs MSE 1 1 Inj Inj Inj Inj 43 8 David Binks Best Buy Serve Olsbergs MSE 7 5 8 8 14 DNS 42 9 Sverre Isachsen Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA 12 10 10 13 3 12 40 10 Travis Pastrana Red Bull Boost Mobile Pastrana 199 Racing 8 15 16 1 10 39 11 Andy Scott Scott-Eklund Racing 4 9 11 6 38 12 Dave Mirra Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA 9 11 15 10 13 6 35 13 Bucky Lasek Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA 11 14 13 11 8 7 35 14 Toomas Heikkinen Bluebeam Olsbergs MSE 10 18 Inj Inj 4 5 33 15 Liam Doran Monster Energy Citroën Rallycross Team 12 5 7 14 30 16 Patrick Moro PMR Motorsports 14 13 12 11 13 22 17 Sébastien Loeb Hansen Motorsport 1 21 18 Bryce Menzies Pastrana 199 Racing 14 8 12 19 David Higgins Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA 7 9 20 Timur Timerzyanov Best Buy Mobile Olsbergs MSE 9 9 21 Andréas Eriksson Best Buy Mobile Olsbergs MSE 9 8 22 Richard Burton Team 41 17 14 15 5 23 Tim Rooney PMR Motorsports 13 4 24 Filipe Albuquerque Pastrana 199 Racing 16 1 25 Jimmy Keeney MCM / Venom/ProDesigns 17 DNS 0 Pos. Drivers Team CHA TEX LA NH LVS LVC  Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

References